Four boys' high school basketball teams, four university men's teams and four women's teams play in Bluffton in three tournaments involving 12 different games over a three-day period at the end of December.
McDonald's sponsors the three tournaments. The boys' games are in the Bluffton High School gym. The university games are in the Sommer Center.
Bluffton High School boys' McDonald's Holiday Tournament
BHS gymnasium
Friday, Dec. 27
Continental vs Arlington 6 pm
Bluffton vs CR 7:30 pm
Bluffton Icon learned of the death this morning of Elbert Dubenion, Bluffton College's only student athlete to play football professionally. The Icon will post additonal details as we obtain them.
By Cort Reynolds
CONVOY - Visiting Bluffton rode a 22-9 third quarter outburst to defeat defending state champion Crestview 58-40 in Northwest Conference boys basketball play Friday night.
Bluffton led only 19-18 after a low-scoring first half. But the Pirates outscored the Knights 39-22 after halftime to win going away.
By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON - Tournament host Bluffton finished a solid sixth at the 11-team Allen County Invitational wrestling meet this past Saturday.
Powerhouse Allen East won the tournament crown with 400.5 points. The Mustangs far out-distanced second-place Spencerville (215), with Shawnee in third (210).
The Pirates ended up with 125 points to tie Elida for sixth.
Pirate freshman Thayne Kleman went 3-0 with three pins at 106 lbs. to win his bracket title.
By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON - Junior guard Laykin Garmatter scored 12 fourth-period points to lead host Bluffton to a 55-49 win over Crestview in Northwest Conference girls basketball action Thursday night.
Bluffton led 13-6 early and held a 35-30 advantage heading to the fourth quarter. The Pirate girls outscored the Lady Knights 20-19 in the final stanza to hold off the visitors, despite eight points from Lexi Gregory in the last period.
Allen County wrestling fans will flock to Bluffton on Saturday for the Allen County high school wrestling tournament.
Bluffton is hosting the 11-school tournament for the first time in several seasons.
Jeff Kleman, Bluffton coach, expects over 100 wrestlers. “There will be 14 weight classes with at least eight wrestlers per class,” he said.
Weigh-ins start 9 a.m. and wrestling starts at 10 a.m. with all matches held in the Bluffton HS gymnasium. Kleman anticipates finals to started between 4:30 and 5 p.m.
